• The Southeast Asian review
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• v.26 no.3
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• pp.51-90
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• 2016

Vietnam has proceeded the gradual reform without radical political change since launching the 'Doi Moi', the comprehensive reform policy adopted in late 1986. Vietnam has been evaluated as a country to perform the economic growth for 30 years successfully, although there were economic recessions for a short time. Through looking at the process of reform, while the state economic sector and foreign-invested sector have contributed to the economic growth in the initial stage of reform, the domestic private sector and foreign-invested sector's economic roles have increased and the state sector's role has been decreased, as the reform has been proceeded. As the state's developmental role has been revealed prominently in the reform process and state's involvement into economic affairs in Vietnam, it is reasonable, in part, to categorize Vietnam as a developmental state like East Asian developmental states. However this evaluation is tentative, as it seems that Vietnamese state's industrial policies have contributed economic growth partly and remarkable economic growth has been shown in the sectors that the government has not focused. In conclusion, Vietnam has changed into a mixed country which has the characteristics of East Asian developmental state formally and the features of Southeast Asian countries which have focused more on the foreign-invested developmental strategy.

• Korean Journal of Social Welfare Studies
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• v.41 no.3
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• pp.5-27
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• 2010

The objective of this study is to examine the dicourse of East Asian Welfare Models and its applicability to explain the development of the Korean Welfare State(regime). The Confucianist Welfare State, representing East Asian Welfare Models has limitations in explaining the current features and dynamics of east asian welfare states. Compared to the western and northern european welfare states, the Welfare State(Regime) of Korea, one of the east asian countries show the clear differences in terms of its origin, the background of formulation, the orientation of the policy and the actors. Thus, a new approach to examine the East Asian Welfare Model is needed. As a theoretical framework, the origin and the growth of the Korean Welfare State(Regime) can be understood and explained in the boundary of concept and the theoretical framework of the Authoritative Developmental State; Historically, the democratization of the 1980s and the financial crisis of the end of 1990s in Korea contributed to the growth of the welfare policies and institutions in Korea. Japan, Taiwan and other east asian counties, such as Hong Kong and Singapore have many similarities with Korea in terms of welfare policies and institutions. Comparative studies of these countries can create significant and useful results to develop a new concept and model of East Asian Welfare States. Case studies and active academic exchanges among welfare state researchers in these east asian countries are very important to develop a new concept of East Asian Welfare State Models.

• Journal of Contemporary Eastern Asia
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• v.19 no.2
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• pp.1-19
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• 2020

Trends toward an influx of new migrants have been pronounced in East Asia through a development we call the third round of migrant incorporation. At the same time, other features of East Asian societies, such as strong levels of ethnic nationalism, have changed little, posing challenges to multiculturalism. In this introduction to this special issue, we review the latest research trends broadly concerning multiculturalism, migrant groups that have received little attention, racism and xenophobia. We first discuss the state of migrant incorporation in East Asia and the limits of multiculturalism in this region, where various features of the developmental state persist. We then introduce research on voices opposing multiculturalism in East Asia. This introduction highlights what is peculiar―and ordinary―about migrant incorporation and the associated challenges in East Asia.

• Journal of the Korean association of regional geographers
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• v.23 no.2
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• pp.288-310
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• 2017

This paper aims to provide a conceptual framework to see the special zones in East Asia in relation to the territorialities of the state. For this, it will introduce Aihwa Ong's notion of 'spaces of exception', and provide some critical discussions on it. Unlike Ong, I do not see the spaces of exception as an outcome of neoliberal changes of the state. Instead, I propose to see the special zones in terms of the internal limitations of the modern state territoriality. In particular, I try to theorize the special zones in relation to the dialectics of the contradictory relations between mobility and fixity inherent in the territoriality of the modern nation state. In addition, it will be suggested to see special zones as an essential part of the spatiality of the East Asian developmental states, given the spatio-temporal contexts of the East Asian capitalist development. On the basis of these theoretical discussions, this paper will divide the special zones that have been developed in East Asia since the 1960s into 3 different types, including 1) developmentalist special zones, 2) neo-liberal special zones, and 3) special zones for transition, and discuss their characteristics.

• Journal of the Korean Geographical Society
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• v.51 no.2
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• pp.283-303
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• 2016

The concept of a risk society, which was originally suggested by German sociologist Ulrich Beck, is insufficient to reveal how a certain risk materially and discursively unfolds on the ground and how its various dynamics are recognised by diverse actors because of the concept's spatial insensitivity. As an alternative approach, this paper introduces the concept of the riskscape, which was suggested by German geographer Detlef $M{\ddot{u}}ller$-Mahn, and analyses this concept in the context of the East Asian developmental state. It is meaningful that the East Asian developmental state thesis has strongly promoted the role of the state in stimulating national economic development in underdeveloped countries. However, it should also be noted that an active state role in encouraging modernisation and economic growth within a very short time produces consequences of what Beck calls 'manufactured risks', such as nuclear power plants. Therefore, it is essential to analyse the state in comprehending modernisation and the risk society in East Asia. More specifically, using the case of the location policy for nuclear power facilities, this article reveals how dominant social forces acting in and through the state constructed a national riskscape that minimises the gravity of local risks while prioritising the economic value of the national economy over local risks to produce rapid modernisation. Additionally, it is argued that a dominant national riskscape may become weak from competing with different riskscapes that are constructed based on contingency factors (e.g., political democratisation or a natural disaster). Based on these analyses, the article emphasises that interdisciplinary research using the concept of the riskscape is required to better explain the risks in East Asia.

• SUVANNABHUMI
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• v.6 no.2
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• pp.65-84
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• 2014

Asia-Pacific Confucian Capitalism is comparable to Atlantic Protestant Capitalism in terms of economic success, as most economies influenced by Confucian culture in East Asia and Southeast Asia are economically well-off in the past 50 years, save for Vietnam. This paper seeks to determine whether Vietnam can follow the path of development of the other Confucian economies, especially in the context of globalization and upcoming regional integration. In the paper, I will use an analytic framework derived from Weber and Huntington to examine the cultural dimension of Vietnam's economic development. In the domestic field, I argue that the core values of Confucianism continue to contribute to the development in Vietnam in many ways; yet one critical element needs to be tapped: the political culture of strong leadership and efficient bureaucracy. Confucian values for development may be compromised by pushing for democratization too early in Vietnam. On a positive note, Confucianism for Vietnam is instrumental in its regional integration into Southeast Asia since it is integrative rather than exclusive. Vietnam's cultural similarity with China may however lead to too much passive learning and conflicts. In conclusion, Confucianism is a valuable asset for Vietnam's economic development, but challenges have to be addressed in order for Vietnam to become the next tiger.

• Journal of the Korean Geographical Society
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• v.49 no.2
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• pp.139-159
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• 2014

This study problematizes the dominance of developmental state theory and its negative influences in the field of Korean studies, in particular, dealing with the industrialization during the developmental era, 1960s~70s. As is generally known, the theory has been in a position of unchallenged authority on the industrialization experience of East Asian countries, including South Korea. However, at the same time, it has also misled us into overlooking strategic relations that had articulated the state forms at multiple scales. This study aims to reconstruct the historical contexts by the theorizing prompted by recent work on state space. I shed light on the multiscalar strategic relations that had shaped the Ulsan refinery plant as a representative state space of the South Korean industrialization during two decades after liberation. Specifically, the study illustrates the features and roles of Cold War networks and multiscalar agnets such as Nam Goong-Yeon. By identifying the plant as a result of sequential articulations between Ulsan and other scales, this study concludes by suggesting to reframing the strategic relational spaces, beyond the view of methodological nationalism, in the perspective of multiscalar approach.